


Sparks Fly

by RoseLaflesh



Series: Learning to Dance [9]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Amethyst trying to be a good girlfriend, F/F, Fireworks, Fluff, Jealousy, PTSD, Peridot trying to be a good friend, future Lapidot?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-24 10:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8369395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseLaflesh/pseuds/RoseLaflesh
Summary: Steven invites everyone to watch the fireworks.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for it being much longer between updates than usual. I've been feeling pretty tired lately. Also, I had just had a 1400 km road trip to my mom's for a visit, and while I was at my mom's, I didn't get any work done because it had been so long since we had seen each other, she wanted to spend every moment with me. Hopefully this story was worth the wait.

“Come on,” Steven insisted as he pulled and pushed the group of gems and one adult human, “Hurry up.”

“But the fireworks show isn’t for another hour,” Pearl pointed out.

“I know but we need to find the best spots! I promised Connie I’d save her a good one.”

“What’s the point of a fireworks show?” Peridot asked Amethyst. 

“There’s not really a point to it. Humans just like blowing stuff up.” Amethyst made an explosion gesture with her arms.

“Okay, but why?”

“Because explosions are cool.”

Peridot opened her mouth like she was going to ask more questions or argue, but then she just shrugged her shoulders. “Can’t argue with that.”

“They’re cool as long as you’re far away from them,” Lapis muttered.

“We’re almost there, come on.” Steven had now given up trying to move the gems by force and ran ahead of the group, who continued to walk at their own pace.

As they reached the viewing area for the firework show, Steven spotted Connie and her parents.

“Connie, you beat me to it,” Steven complained, “I was going to save you a seat.”

“Well, we just got here. Maybe we could pick out a seat together?” Connie offered, rocking forward onto her toes.

“Yeah!” Steven grabbed the blanket from his father, and they ran off onto the beach.

Amethyst then took Peridot’s hand in hers and they followed the two children. Peridot couldn’t help but laugh as Amethyst dragged her through the sand. Both of them had a big goofy grin on their face as they stopped to pick out a spot. Taking each corner of the blanket, Steven, Connie, Peridot and Amethyst neatly spread it over the sand. A neatness that was instantly ruined as Amethyst elbow dropped onto the blanket, creating a small crater in the middle.

Eventually everyone else caught up. Connie’s parents added their own blanket, expanding their seating area to allow for everyone. While they waited for the fireworks to begin, Steven handed out sandwiches, offering them to everyone. Peridot watched in half disgust, half curiosity as Amethyst scarfed down a ham and cheese.

As Amethyst reached for seconds, Peridot finally asked the question she’s wanted to say for a long time. “Why do you eat?”

“It feels nice.”

“But it has to be more than just that. If you were eating for energy like Steven and the humans, I’d understand that, but you’re not doing anything with the food. You’re taking resources away from them for no reason.”

“It’s no problem, Peridot, I made plenty to go around,” Steven said.

“Yes, but what about if there’s a time that there isn’t enough to go around. There could be more sandwiches for those who need it. You don’t see the others eating, do you?”

“I appreciate your concern,” Pearl said, “but we don’t eat because we choose not to, not because it saves resources.”

“Yeah, Percy,” Amethyst gave Peridot a slap on the back, “Remember, you’re on Earth. Resource management isn’t that big of a deal.”

“Although she does have a point,” Priyanka Maheswaran suggested, “There really is no telling how long resources last. Of course, in the case of these sandwiches, because they are made with mayo, they should be eaten in the next three hours before they start going bad.”

“It doesn’t matter if they go bad. I’ll eat them anyway,” Amethyst offered.

“She really would,” Garnet added.

“Okay,” Priyanka drawled, “But you're not human right? You’re some gemstone alien things. Connie’s told me that she’s seen you eat some very odd things, so I doubt food poisoning is much of an issue as it is for us humans.”

“Not usually,” Amethyst shrugged.

“One time she ate this tuna burrito that’s probably five years old at least, and that made her pretty sick,” Steven told.

“It made me sick too,” Pearl muttered.

“Interesting,” Priyanka said, letting the conversation drop.

“So, Doug, what have you been up to lately?” Greg asked as an awkward silence began to settle.

“Oh nothing much. Same old, same old. I’ve recently learned this very interesting thing about ants.”

“You don’t say,” Greg said and the two of them began chatting about various insect trivia.

Peridot turned to Amethyst. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Yes I have.”

“You just said that it feels nice. There has to be more to it than that.”

“Not really,” Amethyst insisted, “Sometimes just enjoying something is reason enough.”

“I still don’t get it,” Peridot grumbled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll understand for the both of us.” Amethyst pulled Peridot in for a hug.

“Look, the fireworks are starting,” Steven gasped as a line of light streaked across the sky and exploded in a small pop at the height of its flight.

“Ow,” Peridot complained when Lapis kicked her in the back.

“Sorry,” she apologize, “it just startled me.”

“How could it have startled you. It has a very visible trail that shows you when it’s going to explode.” Just as she finished, a couple more small fireworks popped in quick succession. Lapis jumped and hugged her knees.

“Is everything alright?” Steven asked.

Lapis forced a smile. “They just startled me, that’s all.”

Suddenly, a large firework exploded, sending a loud boom from the air followed by a crackle from the lights that sparkled down. Lapis buried her head in her lap, now hyperventilating and sobbing. Her entire body shook as more fireworks filled the sky with crashes and booms. As Pearl watched the gem succumb to panic, her eyes widened with realization.

“She’s remembering the war,” Pearl explained to Garnet.

“Of course,” Garnet said as she covered her face in embarrassment for not seeing it sooner.

“The war?” Steven asked.

“There is no one who escapes damage during a war,” Garnet explained, “Everyone loses power, becomes injured, every moment is terror. Even the winners lose their sense of peace. While some gems are better made to handle that stress, Lapis Lazuli isn’t.”

“But you guys seem like you’re fine,” Steven pointed out.

“We had lots of time to recover from the war. Being trapped in the mirror, Lapis must have had no choice but to relive it day after day, never moving on,” Garnet sighed.

“Not to mention, we had your mother to ground us. And well…” Pearl trailed off, not willing to say out loud how poorly they had treated Lapis.

“You know, you guys don’t have to talk about me like I’m not even here!” Lapis stood up and yelled, getting so worked up her wings spread out. Another loud firework boomed behind her and she took off into the air, only to crash down a moment later when she realized that flying puts her closer to the fireworks.

She landed in the sand and sat onto her knees, fingers digging into the beach as if to hold her to the ground. She was gasping and sobbing in terror, unable to move. Peridot hurried over to Lapis, setting a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down. Lapis shrugged her off, but was too scared to move much further.

Peridot turned to the group. “I’m going to take her back home. This is clearly far too much for her.”

Everyone agreed that heading home was the best option for Lapis. Amethyst offered to help, but Peridot turned her down, certain that she could handle the situation. At first Lapis tried to refuse the help, but Peridot crouched down in front of her and held out her hand.

“It’s okay, I want to help you,” She said in the softest voice she could manage.

Lapis nodded and took the offered hand. Even after she got to her feet, Lapis refused to let go of Peridot’s hand, holding it in a death grip that tightened with every firework. Peridot allowed it as long as it got Lapis back to where she felt safe.

As Amethyst watched them go, hand in hand, she could feel jealousy burn its way back up. She tried to push it back down by reminding herself that Lapis and Peridot were friends. Of course they’d be a little close. Lapis was scared. Of course she’d want a hand to hold. She tried to force her eyes back to the fireworks, but she kept peaking back to the two gems. ‘She’s with me’ repeated endlessly in her head, both as a calming reminder and as a possessive snarl. Steven offered her the last sandwich, but she was too busy trying to be rational to be hungry. 

It was slow going, but Peridot and Lapis finally made it back home. Now far away from the sounds of explosions, Lapis had calmed down. While there was still a shudder whenever she felt something she didn’t expect, she slowly shifted to her laid back self.

“Thanks,” She whispered.

“It’s no problem,” Peridot gloated, “Next to Steven, you’re my best friend.”

“What about Amethyst?”

“She’s my girlfriend, that’s a whole different level,” Peridot said.

“I see.” Lapis stared at the ground, her feet digging trenches in the dirt. “Peridot, there’s something I want to tell you. It’s something I need to tell you, but if I tell you, then you might not like me anymore.”

“Look, I know you’re the one who scratched up the season 3 disks of Camp Pining Heart. It’s okay, I forgive you. Besides, they’re much better online anyway.”

“That’s not what I wanted to tell you,” she whispered.

“Wait, you’re not the one who ruined the season 2 DVDs, are you? Because that is far less forgivable. Season 2 is the best season. The writers finally find their pace, it’s the introduction of Pierre, it’s…”

“Listen to me,” Lapis demanded, “I don’t care about your stupid movie disks. This is more important than that.”

“More important?” Peridot asked, perplexed.

“Yes. Peridot. I… I love you.”

“Like a friend?” Peridot said hopefully.

“No. Not like a friend.”

“Oh… I mean. Why? No, never mind. It doesn’t matter. Wait, it does. Why? Why are you telling me this now? Me and Amethyst, things are going good. We’re going good. Why?”

“I don’t know,” Lapis was getting close to tears, “I just thought I could ignore it, but the feeling kept getting bigger. I was going to tell you sooner, but then you and Amethyst started getting together and I didn’t want to ruin things, and so I tried ignoring it more, but now I can hardly stand it.”

“But why are you telling me now.”

“Because you’re being nice to me. It’s the first time in forever that you’ve spent this much time with me without Amethyst around. If it’s not now, then there will never be another time. I don’t care if you hate me. Just know that I love you.”

“I don’t hate you Lapis. I just…” Peridot closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath, “I should head back to the beach. Amethyst really wanted to watch the fireworks with me.”

Lapis hugged herself and nodded. 

“Are you going to be okay?” Peridot asked.

Lapis gave a weak, half smile. “No.”

“Do you need me to stay?”

“Just go.”

Peridot stood there for a few moments. Unsure how she was supposed to proceed with this sort of thing. She had seen it a few times in TV shows. It actually never seemed realistic that anyone could have two people love them at once, but here she was. As she slowly left, waiting for Lapis to say anything else, Peridot was sure that this was going to end with someone being hurt.


End file.
